Posted July 04, 2025
I made a video about Ctrl Alt Ego. Since this game got minimal promotion on release, I figured it deserves to be promoted by the fans, at least. Help me promote this by sharing it around! (Also, it would help a lot if you liked, subscribed, commented. All that Youtube jazz.)
https://youtu.be/5UoJUV8nsU4
https://www.gog.com/en/game/ctrl_alt_ego
So let’s start with a disclaimer: Ctrl Alt Ego is not for everyone. In fact, it’s purely for people who are into games like Deus Ex, Dishonored, 2017’s Prey, and so on. It follows Looking Glass Technologies’ “immersive sim” ideology from all the way back in the ‘90s.
It was developed by the UK-based MindThunk and was released in 2022, and although it was loved by some reviewers, not many people had heard about it. The game itself is not very flashy. The graphics are somewhat minimal by comparison to other releases of 2022, and the premise is weird.
I mean, on their website, their description is “Transmit your disembodied consciousness between robots and devices”.
And it’s also marketed as “an action/puzzle hybrid immersive-sim where you get around by taking control of bots and devices”.
You still with me?
What’s hidden underneath all this, is a very intricate, deliberate and exceptional immersive-sim, the way Warren Spector had described it all those decades ago.
Ctrl Alt Ego may not have flashy graphics, or even a story to write home about, and the premise might be a bit, “Cool story, bruh”-ish, but the one thing where it shines (and maybe outshines many others) is in the gameplay department. And the music department. Two [pause], the two things where it shines are in the gameplay and music departments. And the creativity. Three, [pause], three things. Let me try that again. The three things in which Ctrl Alt Ego excels at are gameplay, music and creativity.
Why am I referencing a British sketch show from the ‘70s? Because the game’s sci-fi era is influenced by the ‘70s & ‘80s, because of course it would.
I’m gonna assume you’re still watching and talk about the gameplay first.
So you are playing somebody’s disembodied ego, something like a ghost, and you can possess various machines around the game world. How this works is immensely satisfying, as it opens up many options in how you approach the obstacles found throughout the maps.
Your main control is a little robot called a Bug, but you can bypass whole areas without even having to possess your main Bug. You also have the choice of how you wanna tackle objectives. You can destroy everything in your path, stealthily tip toe around enemies, speedrun through areas or a mix of all of the above.
The freedom for creative gameplay is just enough to be comparable to games like Deus Ex without toppling over into pure sandbox territory. And that’s what makes this exceptional for me. I can get as creative as I want with this, and the developers reward players who like to experiment and take the creative approach. There’s no wrong way to play this game, though, and the New Game+ option switches things up a tad to make this even more interesting.
For some weird reason, the developers let you import your last save into New Game+ even after completing your last New Game+ session. Which means you can eventually max out all skills and perks. I’m currently in my 4th New Game+ session, I think, since with each try you can finish the game in shorter and shorter times, and going back with all the previous perks is just a lot of fun. The first playthrough is over 14 hours, though.
And then you get to Chapter 7 of the game, the penultimate chapter, and it’s huge. Not only in, let’s say, geographical terms, but the number of ways you can tackle many of the obstacles is just jaw-droppingly awesome. It’s quite impressive, since most games will usually streamline you towards the ending in the last few chapters or quests, and yet Ctrl Alt Ego not only does the opposite, it goes overboard with it. The same can be said for Chapter 8, the last chapter, and even though it’s not as huge as Chapter 7, it’s quite “out there”. However, a lot of that chapter can be bypassed if you know exactly what you’re doing, but even then, these last two chapters will take up almost half of the overall playtime.
Of course, this being an immersive-sim means that you can travel between the map areas of Chapters 1 through 7 freely at any given time, and tackle the objectives out of order, if you so please.
As for the music, I found it quite fitting, and I absolutely loved it. I listen to it outside the game, since I bought the soundtrack together with the game.
The soundtrack was created by Chris Phelps, and it’s got all the beeps and boops one would expect from a ‘70s inspired sci-fi game, but it also gives off vibes from stuff like the Fight Club soundtrack from 1999 intermingled with humor, and the occasional soundbite.
I mean, there’s not much else I can say about it. It suits the game perfectly, and the fact that it’s humorous makes it even more of an interesting listen, even though the actual songs themselves aren’t complicated affairs, especially when compared to the complexity of the gameplay. Mix that with the great sound cues sprinkled through the game world for specific finds and things, and you got a winning combo.
In conclusion, Ctrl Alt Ego sets a very high bar when it comes to immersive-sim game design, but it also proves that this is not a commercially viable way to make games, so don’t expect to see many games following suit.
For fans of said game design though, this is a no brainer, as it’s quite impressive, quite addictive when it comes to experimentation and exploration, and the whole package just works.
According to MindThunk’s Discord, there’s a sequel in the works, and the fans are already excited about this. We should be getting something more official fairly soon.
https://youtu.be/5UoJUV8nsU4
https://www.gog.com/en/game/ctrl_alt_ego
So let’s start with a disclaimer: Ctrl Alt Ego is not for everyone. In fact, it’s purely for people who are into games like Deus Ex, Dishonored, 2017’s Prey, and so on. It follows Looking Glass Technologies’ “immersive sim” ideology from all the way back in the ‘90s.
It was developed by the UK-based MindThunk and was released in 2022, and although it was loved by some reviewers, not many people had heard about it. The game itself is not very flashy. The graphics are somewhat minimal by comparison to other releases of 2022, and the premise is weird.
I mean, on their website, their description is “Transmit your disembodied consciousness between robots and devices”.
And it’s also marketed as “an action/puzzle hybrid immersive-sim where you get around by taking control of bots and devices”.
You still with me?
What’s hidden underneath all this, is a very intricate, deliberate and exceptional immersive-sim, the way Warren Spector had described it all those decades ago.
Ctrl Alt Ego may not have flashy graphics, or even a story to write home about, and the premise might be a bit, “Cool story, bruh”-ish, but the one thing where it shines (and maybe outshines many others) is in the gameplay department. And the music department. Two [pause], the two things where it shines are in the gameplay and music departments. And the creativity. Three, [pause], three things. Let me try that again. The three things in which Ctrl Alt Ego excels at are gameplay, music and creativity.
Why am I referencing a British sketch show from the ‘70s? Because the game’s sci-fi era is influenced by the ‘70s & ‘80s, because of course it would.
I’m gonna assume you’re still watching and talk about the gameplay first.
So you are playing somebody’s disembodied ego, something like a ghost, and you can possess various machines around the game world. How this works is immensely satisfying, as it opens up many options in how you approach the obstacles found throughout the maps.
Your main control is a little robot called a Bug, but you can bypass whole areas without even having to possess your main Bug. You also have the choice of how you wanna tackle objectives. You can destroy everything in your path, stealthily tip toe around enemies, speedrun through areas or a mix of all of the above.
The freedom for creative gameplay is just enough to be comparable to games like Deus Ex without toppling over into pure sandbox territory. And that’s what makes this exceptional for me. I can get as creative as I want with this, and the developers reward players who like to experiment and take the creative approach. There’s no wrong way to play this game, though, and the New Game+ option switches things up a tad to make this even more interesting.
For some weird reason, the developers let you import your last save into New Game+ even after completing your last New Game+ session. Which means you can eventually max out all skills and perks. I’m currently in my 4th New Game+ session, I think, since with each try you can finish the game in shorter and shorter times, and going back with all the previous perks is just a lot of fun. The first playthrough is over 14 hours, though.
And then you get to Chapter 7 of the game, the penultimate chapter, and it’s huge. Not only in, let’s say, geographical terms, but the number of ways you can tackle many of the obstacles is just jaw-droppingly awesome. It’s quite impressive, since most games will usually streamline you towards the ending in the last few chapters or quests, and yet Ctrl Alt Ego not only does the opposite, it goes overboard with it. The same can be said for Chapter 8, the last chapter, and even though it’s not as huge as Chapter 7, it’s quite “out there”. However, a lot of that chapter can be bypassed if you know exactly what you’re doing, but even then, these last two chapters will take up almost half of the overall playtime.
Of course, this being an immersive-sim means that you can travel between the map areas of Chapters 1 through 7 freely at any given time, and tackle the objectives out of order, if you so please.
As for the music, I found it quite fitting, and I absolutely loved it. I listen to it outside the game, since I bought the soundtrack together with the game.
The soundtrack was created by Chris Phelps, and it’s got all the beeps and boops one would expect from a ‘70s inspired sci-fi game, but it also gives off vibes from stuff like the Fight Club soundtrack from 1999 intermingled with humor, and the occasional soundbite.
I mean, there’s not much else I can say about it. It suits the game perfectly, and the fact that it’s humorous makes it even more of an interesting listen, even though the actual songs themselves aren’t complicated affairs, especially when compared to the complexity of the gameplay. Mix that with the great sound cues sprinkled through the game world for specific finds and things, and you got a winning combo.
In conclusion, Ctrl Alt Ego sets a very high bar when it comes to immersive-sim game design, but it also proves that this is not a commercially viable way to make games, so don’t expect to see many games following suit.
For fans of said game design though, this is a no brainer, as it’s quite impressive, quite addictive when it comes to experimentation and exploration, and the whole package just works.
According to MindThunk’s Discord, there’s a sequel in the works, and the fans are already excited about this. We should be getting something more official fairly soon.
Post edited July 04, 2025 by TheDudeLebowski
